KU announces participation in national public art project; Yoko Ono piece now displayed on campus

Joanna Hlavacek

The University of Kansas campus is the temporary new home of a flag designed by Yoko Ono as part of a nationwide public art project, KU announced this week.

The flag, titled “IMAGINE PEACE,” went on display Wednesday outside The Commons at Spooner Hall, near 14th Street and Jayhawk Boulevard on KU’s central campus. It is the sixth of 16 flags commissioned by Creative Time, a New York-based public arts nonprofit, in the national “Pledges of Allegiance” project.

Like the others in the serialized project, Ono’s flag is meant to “reflect the current political climate,” KU’s news release said. The design features black sans-serif typeface on a white background, bearing the message “THINK PEACE, ACT PEACE, SPREAD PEACE, IMAGINE PEACE.”

The “Pledges of Allegiance” project began on Flag Day in June and will run through July 30, 2018. Each flag in the series addresses an issue of the artist’s choosing and addresses how the country might move forward together. Together, the project “aims to inspire a sense of community among cultural institutions,” KU’s press release said.

Other partners in the project include the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Cornell University’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, among others. KU is currently the farthest west of all participating venues.

The Commons at Spooner Hall and the Spencer Museum of Art have partnered to host “Pledges of Allegiance” and will offer a series of programs exploring the project’s themes. The community is encouraged to attend the raising of each new flag, which will be announced in advance by KU.